Hallander gives Penguins checking, penalty-kill option in bottom six

Filip Hallander made a bold statement during the Penguins' development camp in September.

"I'm here to take a spot," he said. "If you're coming to main camp, you have to have the mindset of taking a spot."

Things didn't go quite as planned for Hallander to open the season. He was sidelined for the start of training camp with a nagging lower-body injury, and only got into the last two preseason games.

Once Hallander got to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to start the AHL season, the transition to the North American game was admittedly more difficult than he had anticipated, and he struggled in a third-line role.

"It was a bigger adjustment than I thought it was going to be," he told me back in January. "I think I'm getting the feeling for it now and playing better, understanding the play style more."

Since January, Hallander has seen his stock rise. He's been Wilkes-Barre's first-line left winger in most games since then, and he's started to produce more in that role, with 10 goals and 13 assists in 52 games, including two goals and two assists in the six games (with a week off for a lower body-injury in between) leading up to his emergency recall to Pittsburgh on Monday.

"He's played very well for them," Mike Sullivan said of the decision to recall Hallander. "He came back off injury and played a handful of games."

With Hallander's recall being an emergency recall due to Anthony Angello, Kasperi Kapanen and Danton Heinen all missing Monday's practice with non-COVID illnesses, it doesn't seem too likely that Hallander will get into a game on this latest recall. Sullivan said after Tuesday's morning skate that those three are all "feeling better" and that he would anticipate them being in the lineup Tuesday for the 7:08 p.m. game against the Avalanche at PPG Paints Arena.

Hallander can't stay on the NHL roster on his emergency recall when there are 12 other healthy forwards. If at least two of those three are cleared to play, Hallander would either have to be returned to Wilkes-Barre, or have his emergency recall converted into a standard recall. While teams have unlimited emergency recalls between the trade deadline and end of the NHL regular season, they are limited to just four standard (non-injury related) recalls in that span. The Penguins have already used two of their four standard recalls on Radim Zohorna and Angello.

Whenever Hallander does get into his first NHL game, Sullivan said that he's someone who "everyone feels we can put in our lineup, and he can be impactful in a number of ways."

"He's hard to play against," Sullivan said. "He can help us on the penalty-kill. He could play in the bottom six for us and just check well. I think that's the strength of his game. He's hard on pucks. He's good on the wall. He has penalty-killing ability. He just makes us harder to play against. So he gives us some versatility in the bottom six."

That penalty-killing ability is one of the key reasons why Hallander got the call. If a player is going to play in the bottom six, Sullivan likes them to have the ability to step into the penalty-kill. That was one factor he mentioned last month as to why Drew O'Connor was still in Wilkes-Barre. He wants O'Connor to develop his ability to kill penalties. Hallander has been killing penalties all season.

Hallander has done his part to earn a look at the NHL level. There just has to be an opening to get into a game.

MORE FROM THE SKATE

 • It was an optional skate. Participants included Angello, Kapanen, Heinen, Hallander, Zohorna, Teddy Blueger, Brian Boyle, Rickard Rakell, Chad Ruhwedel, Marcus Pettersson, Mark Friedman, Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith.

• Jarry was the first goaltender off the ice, making it clear he'll start tonight.

• Brock McGinn and Jason Zucker skated on their own before the session, both in full gear. After leaving Thursday's game in St. Paul, Minn., with an apparent lower-body injury, this was the second day Zucker was back on the ice, though his session Monday was brief and while wearing a track suit. Sullivan said there's still no definitive update on Zucker's status.

"Our doctors are continuing to consult with one another," Sullivan said. "But having said that, his response over the last few days has been really encouraging. He was on the ice yesterday, he was on on the ice again this morning. So we feel like his response over the last few days has been really encouraging. We still don't have definitive information from our medical staff. But certainly we're encouraged with what we've seen and Zuck's feedback himself since he went into the boards in Minnesota.

• Angello has played in just two NHL games this season -- Jan. 11 in Anaheim, a game in which he played 5:19, and Saturday in Denver, a game in which he played 6:34. Sullivan had praise for Angello's game in that limited fourth-line role.

"He's an energy guy," Sullivan said. "He brings a physical dimension. He has good size and he skates really well. He's good on the forecheck. He's a guy that can help us build momentum. I think what's limited some of his ice time here at the NHL level is we haven't had him on either one of the special teams, either one of the power plays or in the penalty kill to this point. When you're a bottom six forward and you're just a five-on-five guy, it's not easy to find minutes for players like that. ... But his five-on-five minutes, he's been effective for us. He's a momentum guy for us. He gets pucks deep. He plays within himself. He can really skate, he brings good size and he brings a physical dimension. He's really good on the forecheck and he's trustworthy defensively. We feel like we can put him on the ice against anyone."

• Mike Matheson, Bryan Rust, Brian Dumoulin and Ruhwedel had a big evening out yesterday to take their sons to see Cocomelon Live, a children's show: